Hitting the ground running with a new mobile development platform usually takes substantial effort and a lengthy time investment. After making note of the high demands and steep learning curves placed on mobile developers, Microsoft has made some noble (and highly effective) efforts to ensure that jumping into Windows Phone 8 is fast, easy, and fun. Their latest addition—free Windows Phone Camps—is a quintessential example of this developer-centric philosophy. As you might expect, attending one of these events can get you up to speed in a single day.

Microsoft’s next Windows Phone Camp is this Friday, December 07 at 9:00 AM Pacific Time (GMT—8). It’s open for anyone to attend online or in person, and unlike a lot of similarly intense and intensive training, it’s free of charge. This Friday’s event will be hosted physically at Microsoft HQ, and virtually on SitePoint.com. Here’s a look at Friday’s event information and schedule:

If you haven’t had a look at Microsoft’s other Windows Phone 8 developer resources, they’re impressive as well. Their Windows Phone Dev Center provides a ton of tools for the aspiring Windows Phone developer. If you’ve got more than a day’s time and want to make the most of the opportunity, consider the following preparations:

Peter is Chief Digital Officer of CuriosityStream, a multi-platform nonfiction streaming service by the founder of Discovery Communications (Discovery Channel, Science Channel, Animal Planet, etc.). Peter is also Co-Founder of True North, a management consulting firm and digital marketing agency with clientele that includes WebMD and Salesforce.